Hey there! If you’re here, that means you’d like to know how I work with a team of people. With that in mind, I put together a small showcase, showing how I like to provide briefs and direction to juniors, in order to create a new asset.
The job
The asset being created is a shrine model, intended to be sold by the STL company Black Stump Miniatures. I am the co-founder of this company and its Chief Creative Officer.
We sell high quality minis for tabletop RPGs and our mission statement is to create good-looking minis that you can also use in your weekly games. Our main line is inspired by global folklore and myth, so we draw from it heavily.
You can visit our store here: https://www.myminifactory.com/users/BlackStumpMiniatures?show=store#/
The mini we will be creating is a shrine to the Faun, the formless, primeval god of the Black Stump. The team I will be working with is made up of:
- Konstantine Paradias – Writer and CCO of Black Stump
- Bartosz Buszman – Sculptor and CFO of Black Stump
- Alvaro García Mendía – Concept Artist
The brief
I begin by writing a brief for the materials. My goal here is not to overwhelm the artist, but instead to first explain to them what is the gameplay function of what they are drawing, as this helps set clear boundaries without restricting the artist’s creativity.
Purpose of this key art: Create concept art that will inform the design of a tabletop mini for the Black Stump Miniatures brand, a series of dark fantasy STLs in a dark fantasy setting inspired by global folklore.
https://www.myminifactory.com/users/BlackStumpMiniatures
This key art will be used as part of an encounter site that is given out to series subscribers, with interactive battles, encounters and events players can stumble into during a session, providing additional adventure hooks for DMs.
The Black Stump is an implied fantasy setting of the Last Wilderness, where the formless god known as the Faun reigns supreme since the early days of the world. The site you will be drawing is a shrine to the Faun in the middle of a forest clearing.
With the purpose explained, I then provide the artist with a loose definition of what the god is and how it fits in the world. This is done to provide direction and clarity, without forcing the artist to follow specific direction or restrict his vision. My purpose is to foster their skills, so we can have the best possible result.
What is the Faun (Lore entry):
Before history…
Before the gods left their footprint on the newborn world…
Before the burning of the first flame or the spark of reason…
There was the Faun.
A god before gods, it wandered the endless forest expanse that was the world, fostering the life that stirred there. It saw the insect, the beast, the unformed monstrosity; it witnessed the things that trawled the primordial muck and swam in the oceans and gave a command:
Breed. Take. Devour.
And for a thousand thousand years, the world was an endless carnival of birth, slaughter and decay, as the Faun had intended. In time, the gods were drawn by the cacophony; they imposed their damnable order. The Faun resisted them, but it was alone against a host of invaders. So ity retreated into the darkness, waging a war of attrition. And for millenia, it won.
But the changing of the weather and the motion of the earth have splintered its domain. Fire has burned away great swathes of what it once called home. Civilization has spread, tearing away at the last place it called home. The Faun has retreated in its last and greatest place of power, the Black Stump.
There, the Faun gathers its power, plotting its revenge. It has found the means to restore its primal domain and gathers its hordes. When it is ready, the Faun will unleash its final weapon, choke every trace of civilization under its roots, quench every flame.
And the world will be the green hell of the unknowable past, free from reason and peace and gods.
And the Faun will give out its final command:
Breed. Take. Devour. Obey.
With the lore section cleared, I then give a decription of what exactly we need the artist to create. This is the deliverable itself.
Description: The shrine is a cairn made of piled stones and assorted bones and fetishes, build by dexterous (if primitive) hands. It is set against a tree in the middle of a clearing that has been the site of many a great sacrifice in the Faun’s name. At times, the god has even graced the area with its presence, riding one of its cultists or by stomping across it to devour the bound sacrifice left on the slab.
Finally, I make sure to include references that will help the artist follow the direction. These references need to draw from history and nature, to ensure that the artist creates something that is not a repeat of existing designs but is also, again, free to express themselves freely. This also re-summarizes in brief the core direction of the project, as established in the Art Bible.
General directions:
When drawing the Shrine, keep the following in mind:
- As the Black Stump draws from fairy tales, folk lore and history, the creatures inside it need to reflect this specific look.
- Designs must be solid and captivating, without too much unnecessary detail and hyper-realism. First and foremost, they need to be minis you can actually play D&D with.
- The core idea is:
- Good characters and creatures need to look cute, innocent and obviously likeable.
- Evil characters and creatures need to be distinctly weird and monstrous.
- Historical references: Neolithic stone slabs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_slab
- Additional refs: Japanese stone circle shrines https://heritageofjapan.wordpress.com/just-what-was-so-amazing-about-jomon-japan/ways-of-the-jomon-world-2/did-the-jomon-have-a-calendar/secrets-of-the-stone-circles/
The Art
Frist Draft: Based on this brief, Alvaro came back with the following sketches:
They were impressive and Bartosz and I could already find elements across the designs that worked for us which we could put together. Keep in mind, this needed to be a fully playable mini besides just looking cool.
We mixed and matched the horrifying face from D1, the piled bones from designs B and D2, as well as the bone halo from F and the crescent tusk from E. We also aded a design for a much needed slab. Soon after that, Alvaro came back with the next one.
Second Draft:
Keep in mind that while re-drafting is part and parcel for a concept artists’ job, it is important to provide concise feedback that does not waste everyone’s time to get the best possible result. These design were all amazing, but we needed to settle one one. And we picked the one we knew would look most unsettling.
It was V3, with the slab included.
Callout sheet: Alvaro also helpfully included the callout sheet, so Bartosz could model the final result. I am impressed with how close he stuck to the brief, without compromising on his style and abilities.
The Mini
Finally, Bartosz got to work making the mini. His goal was to make something haunting that would stick with players in a game and make the area it was in look distinctly oiminous, the proceeded to knock the renders out of the park.
And that’s how the sausage is made in Black Stump miniatures. Working with this team is always a ton of fun and I hope this gave you a good look into my working process as well.
If you want to buy the STL file for this amazing Shrine, visit our store!
Konstantine Paradias 